WORCESTER, Mass. - Six-seed Coast Guard men's basketball traveled to Worcester to face two-seed Clark (Mass.) tonight for NEWMAC Playoff action, eventually falling in a 71-53 contest to the Cougars. The Bears were unable to keep up with Clark's offense in the second half, which was able to outscore their guests by a 40-22 margin in the final 20 minutes.
The Cougars get to stay in Worcester for the championship but will act as the away team and underdog to the favored one-seed no.14 WPI. The Engineers defeated four-seed Emerson in a blowout 93-73 result in the other semifinal.
The teams traded pairs of three-pointers in a 6-6 start before battling for the rest of the half. Coast Guard took an 18-14 lead before Clark went on a 7-0 run to make it a 21-18 game. The Bears would eventually trail, 26-31, before
Jordan Frazer (Columbia, S.C.) cut into the Cougar lead with a textbook driving layup. Great defensive plays on the other side by big
Bryce VanderWiere (Schoolcraft, Mich.) forced back-to-back jump balls to give the Bears a new possession. After missed scoring opportunities on both ends,
Elijah Parent (Bristol, Conn.) tied the game at 31 with a three. Neither team was able to take an advantage into halftime.
The first half was as even as could be in several aspects. Coast Guard had the advantage in field goal percentage, shooting 12-for-30 (40.0%) while Clark went 12-31 (38.7%); on three-pointers, the home team was having more success shooting 4-for-11 (36.4%), but the Bears weren't far off in shooting 5-for-14 (35.7%). Clark held a slight 20-18 rebounding advantage, while both teams had given up five turnovers a piece.
The first five minutes of post-break action saw the two teams exchange buckets and fouls, with both sides combining for six whistles at the 15-minute mark. Clark went on a 6-0 run to take a 44-38 lead before
Christian Rodgers (Linwood, N.J.) put Coast Guard back in the scoring column with two makes at the line.
Declan Rooney (Seattle, Wash.) would splash a three-pointer to make it a 46-45 game, but the Cougars would retaliate with a 7-0 run to extend it to a 53-45 lead. Parent broke up the run with two free throws, but Clark would stay in control and build a 61-49 with five minutes remaining. Coast Guard was unable to make a comeback.
The Bears were unable to get it going in the second half, shooting 6-for-26 (23.1%) overall and 1-for-9 (11.1%) on threes; in comparison, the Cougars shot 12-for-28 (42.9%) in the half and 3-for-7 (42.9%) from three. The hosts also outrebounded Coast Guard, 47-30, while a bright spot for Coast Guard was their on-ball defense, as the visitors forced nine steals by the final buzzer.
Parent was the leader on both ends with game-highs of 17 points and three steals; after him were Rooney and
Luke Farrell (Ortley Beach, N.J.), with the duo scoring ten apiece and Rooney grabbing a team-high six rebounds and Farrell tallying two steals. Rooney also shared a team-leading four assists with freshman
Colin Huang (Irvine, Calif.), who had four rebounds and two steals in the night's action.
Cameron Brown (Ellicott City, Md.) fittingly closed out his collegiate career with Coast Guard's lone block.
The Cougars were supplemented with double-digit nights from five separate players, the highest among them being
Bruce Saintilus (Plainville, Mass.) with his 15-point and game-high seven-assist night.
Quentin Pridgen (Fitchburg, Mass.) was next up with a 13-point, 10-rebound double-double, and
Isiah Taylor (Methuen, Mass.) scored 11 with a game-high three blocks.
Bears' men's basketball comes to a close with the team amassing a final record of 11-16 (6-10 NEWMAC). Highlights throughout the season included Brown's nine-block game against Eastern Connecticut State, Farrell's 37-point game at MIT, and Rooney becoming the program's latest 1,000-point scorer, which also happened in the MIT game.
